Amazing Facts » Fun Facts On People And World Records

Facts of world records and people

Here are some interesting facts for kids along with some fun trivia. Check out these awesome facts and information, which will help explain more about people and world records. The facts presented are funny and children will be able to easily memorise them.

The Hindus, once believed that the Earth was a huge dish that was supported by elephants standing on long pillars. The dish prevented the oceans from falling off.

However, the Egyptians had other thoughts. They thought the world was rectangular shaped and that four giant pillars supported the heavens. The wise men also warned their sailors not to go too far away or you just might just fall of from the edge of the Earth.

It was even more surprising that when the Queen of England heard this, she sent out four ships to north east, west and south in search of these so-called “pillars.” When they returned without finding any of these pillars, they questioned the Egyptians and they told them, it was farther than they had sailed. Convenient explanation… yet, it was ages later, that they realized that it was a sphere.

Did you know that Vincent Van Gogh, the famous renaissance painter, sold only one painting in his entire life, and that was to his brother. No wonder, paintings become famous after the artists time.

Daniel Hale Williams was the first black surgeon to do open heart surgery in 1893. He saved a man who was stabbed by cutting opening his chest and sewing up the wound and without any x-rays and other medical devices. In fact, he was the first one to attempt this and succeed.

In 29 April 1978, Maomi Uemura, a Japanese explorer, was the first man to make the trip to the North Pole alone, after an eight-week journey.

Another interesting one… Thomas Crapper first developed the first super flush toilet in 1884.

One of America’s best-loved authors, Mark Twain was a school dropout. After Mark’s father died when he was around 12, he dropped out of school.

It was on 2 April 1872, Victoria Woodhull became the first woman candidate for the American presidency.

Abraham Lincoln invented a device for lifting riverboats over shallow water.

Babe Ruth, the great baseball player, in order to keep cool during baseball playoffs used to keep a cabbage leaf under his cap.

Did you know that it was a dentist who invented the electric chair!

Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first men to climb Mount Everest and return back alive in 1953.

Sultan Kosen, from Turkey, Ankara is the tallest living man. He measured 251 cm or 8 feet 3 inches as on 8 February 2011.

Thomas Edison who invented the light bulb was mortally afraid of the dark. Although, very few know that the light bulb was not Edison’s idea, but he was the first to come up with a reliable, working electric light bulb. Perhaps the driving force behind the invention was Thomas Edison was his fear of darkness.

Facts About World Records

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Hans Langseth had the longest beard in the world, a staggering 17 feet 6 inches long. Although, he passed away in 1927, his surviving children donated it to the Smithsonian Institute.

The deadliest disease was the pneumonic form of the Black Death of 1347-1351. It had death rate of 100%.

The Black Death was one of the most devastating and severe epidemics in human history. It ravaged Europe from 1347 to 1351, and destroyed an estimated 100 million people and destroyed over 1000 villages. It had a death rate of 100 percent.

The largest egg laid by a living bird is that of the North African Ostrich and the smallest is that of the hummingbird. While the Ostrich’s egg is about 6 to 8 inches in length and 4 to 6 inches in diameter, the hummingbird’s egg is about 0.39 inches in diameter.

The hottest place in America is Death Valley, located in South Eastern California. It is the hottest, driest, and lowest place in North America. The hottest temperature recorded in Death Valley is 56.7 degrees Celsius or 134.06 Fahrenheit.

Oymyakon in Russia recorded the lowest average temperature for an inhabited place. It averages minus 50 C (minus 58 F) during winter. This remote village is considered the coldest inhabited place on Earth.

However, Antarctica is the coldest continent. It takes cold to the extreme. It was here that the lowest temperature on Earth was recorded a freezing minus 89.2 C during 1983.

Of the ten tallest buildings in the United States, four are located in Chicago. It is home to over 1,264 completed high-rises, 107 of which stand taller than 500 feet (152 m).

The Angel Falls in Venezuela is over twenty times taller than Niagara Falls. It is the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall, with a plunge of over 805 meters.

The blue whale is the largest animal that ever lived. At 30 meters, close to 100 feet in length and around 180 tons in weight, the largest and heaviest animal is ever known to have existed.

In 1962, Wilt Chamberlain, playing for Philadelphia Warriors scored 100 points in a basketball game.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Charles Osborne (1894-1991) had the longest bout of the hiccups that was ever recorded. He had them non-stop for approximately 68 years, from 1922 to 1990.

Here is another strange fact... did you know that the longest conga to this date included 119,986 people… Wonder, where they made this conga?

The smallest cat is the Singapuras and weighs only 4 pounds.

Did you know how long is the longest movie? It lasts for about 85 hours and is aptly titled “The Cure for Insomnia.” Now, how is that for sleepy heads? And, it probably did not serve its purpose as well.

Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. Its peak stands at about 8,850 meters (29,035 feet) above sea level.

According to the Guinness Book, the world’s smallest dog is a tiny brown Chihuahua named Milly. At almost 2-years-old, Milly, she stood only 3.8 inches tall and weighed about only a pound.

We are certain that you and your kids loved reading these fun facts. Visit us every week for more amusing facts. Enjoy.